Laser microsurgery provides evidence for merotelic kinetochore attachments in fission yeast cells lacking Pcs1 or Clr4

Cornelia Rumpf, Lubos Cipak, Alexander Schleiffer, Alison Pidoux, Karl Mechtler, Iva M. Tolic-Norrelykke, Juraj Gregan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

In order to segregate chromosomes properly, the cell must prevent merotelic kinetochore attachment, an error that occurs when a single kinetochore is attached to microtubules emanating from both spindle poles. Merotelic kinetochore orientation represents a major mechanism of aneuploidy in mitotic mammalian cells and it is the primary mechanism of chromosome instability in cancer cells. Fission yeast mutants defective in putative microtubule-site clamp Pcs1/Mde4 or Clr4/Swi6-dependent centromeric heterochromatin display high frequencies of lagging chromosomes during anaphase. Here, we developed an assay based on laser microsurgery to show that the stretched morphology of lagging kinetochores in pcs1 Delta and clr4 Delta mutant cells is due to merotelic attachment. We further show that Mde4 is regulated by Cdc2 and that Cdc2 activity prevents precocious localization of Mde4 to the metaphase spindle. Finally, we show that Pcs1/Mde4 complex shares similar features with the conserved kinetochore complex Spc24/Spc25 suggesting that these two complexes may occupy a similar functional niche.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3997-4004
Number of pages8
JournalCell Cycle
Volume9
Issue number19
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2010

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